1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a new strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, subsp. pneumoniae, and a process for the production of a polysaccharide containing L-fucose using this strain.
The new strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae (hereinafter termed BEC 1000) of the invention was deposited in the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes, 25, rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 PARIS CEDEX 15, France, on 16 Dec. 1994, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Budapest. It was given the registration number I-1507.
2. Technological Background
The use of bacterial strains of the genus Klebsiella to produce polysaccharides containing L-fucose is known in itself.
In Carbohydrate Research, 77 (1979), pages 183-190, J. P. JOSELEAU and M. -F. MARAIS describe a capsular polysaccharide containing D-galactose, L-fucose and D-galacturonic acid in a ratio of 1:1:1 originating from a strain of Klebsiella K-63.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,691, G. T. VEEDER and K. S. KANG describe a process for the production of a S-156 heteropolysaccharide by culture of a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, close to the above strain K-63, deposited in the American Type Culture Collection, on 12.sup.th May 1988, as N.degree. ATCC 31646, in an aqueous nutrient medium by aerobic fermentation of a source of assimilatable glucides, such as hydrolysed starch. That heteropolysaccharide contains D-galacturonic acid, D-galactose and L-fucose in an approximate molar ratio of 23:21:26.